


Flowers for a Ghost

by the_huffster



Series: Forever and Always [2]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Mentions of Buffy/Giles, Semi Angst, four years later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 06:48:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12600704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_huffster/pseuds/the_huffster
Summary: Buffy visits Giles' grave and takes a step towards moving on.





	Flowers for a Ghost

“Thanks again, Will.” Buffy said as she stood in the doorframe, giving her best friend a smile.

“Any time, Buffy.” Willow laughed, giving the Slayer a quick hug. “You know how much I enjoy it. I’ll see you for lunch tomorrow, right?”

Buffy nodded her head in agreement before giving the red head a wave and shutting the door behind her. She leaned against the door, eyes closed, and took a deep breath. It was supposed to get easier as time went on, but four years later and she was still waiting for the pain to lessen. She opened her eyes at the sound of hurried footsteps running down the stairs, a bright smile on her face.

“Mommy!” the four year old launched himself at his mother, wrapping his arms around her waist. “I missed you.”

“I was only gone for two hours, Ru.” She giggled as she picked up her son, running her fingers through his soft brown hair. “How could you have missed me?”

“I always miss you when you go,” he gave her a big grin, wrapping his arms around her neck and kissing her cheek.

“Well, I’m home now. So you don’t need to miss me anymore,”

As she listened to the little boy recount what he had done with Willow, Buffy found herself thinking how much like Giles he was. A month after Giles’ funeral, Buffy had discovered she was nearly two months pregnant, news that was bittersweet for her. Nearly seven months later, she went into labor and after 32 hours Rupert Michael Giles was born.

And four years later, Buffy had seen that it was much more than just the name Ru shared with his father. The boy looked almost like a replica of Giles with the exception of his nose, ears, and toes, which he had gotten from his mother. Buffy couldn’t wait until he was a little bit older to see if his personality would match Giles’ or hers, or maybe a combination of both of them.

“You okay, Mommy?” the question pulled Buffy back into reality, a small smile on her face when she saw the worry in his dark green eyes.

“I am. I was just thinking,” she assured him, walking into the kitchen and setting him on the island.

“About Daddy?”

“Yeah, about Daddy.” She hoped he wouldn’t catch the small hitch in her voice. “Do you know what today is?”

“Yep! We’re visitin’ Daddy!” Ru cheered, throwing his arms up and kicking his feet out.

“Mm-hm.” The blonde smiled, ruffling his hair. “And do you know why?”

“S’his birthday.”

Buffy kissed the tip of his nose as she lifted him and put him on the floor.

“How about we eat lunch before we go visit him?” she suggested, making her way to the refrigerator and getting what she would need to make sandwiches.

“Sounds like a plan, Batman!” Ru grinned as he ran over to the table, climbing up into his chair.

Buffy shook her at the saying. She couldn’t wait to hear what Xander would teach her son as he got older.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“What was Daddy like?”

Buffy looked down at the four year old, giving his hand a small squeeze as they made their way to his father’s grave.

“Your daddy was the smartest person I knew,”

“The smartest in the whole world?!” he stopped walking and looked up at her, giggling as she kneeled in front of him and poked his belly.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if he was.” She smiled before picking him up and standing, continuing to Giles’ tombstone. “He was also very brave, and even when he was scared he didn’t let anyone see it and did what needed to be done. And he loved books, it was actually a little scary how much he loved books.”

Ru giggled, making a face at the mention of books. “Books are boring!”

“They are, but it’s not a bad thing to like them.” She laughed.

She continued talking about Giles as she walked, stopping once she reached the grave. Buffy set down her son and sat in front of the tombstone, wrapping her arms around the boy when he sat in her lap. They were quiet for a few minutes until Ru turned to look at his mother.

“How come Daddy died?” he asked softly, his hand grabbing the ring she always wore around her neck.

“Sometimes things just happen, Ru. And sometimes you can’t explain why they happened.” She sighed, running her fingers through his hair. “All I know is that Daddy was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was hit by a drunk driver.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s when a grown up has too much to drink and drives when they shouldn’t be,”

“You can’t drink juice when you drive?”

“Not that kind of drink,” she giggled. “Remember when Aunt Willow was acting really silly on her birthday this year?”

The boy nodded his head, his fingers still playing with the ring.

“Well, that was because she had been drinking too much of a grown up drink.” Buffy laughed at the confused expression on his face, kissing the top of his head. “You’ll understand it when you’re older, Ru.”

He furrowed his brow, clearly not happy with the answer but accepting it nonetheless. Still holding on to the ring, a habit he had developed a few months earlier when he turned four, Ru looked at the tombstone and began talking.

“Happy birthday, Daddy!” the boy exclaimed, a grin too big for his face replacing his furrowed brow.

Buffy sat and listened as her son talked about everything that had happened since their visit last week. She laughed every now and then, shaking her head when Ru would stumble on his words occasionally. She didn’t like the fact that she had to bring her four year old to a cemetery in order for him to spend time with his father, but it was all she had to work with. Her fingers gently ran through Ru’s hair as he continued talking, his small hand still holding the ring.

“I miss you, Daddy.” He whispered, his eyes looking at the grass. “But Mommy says you’re better now. Uncle Xander says I shouldn’t be sad about you, and I’m not. Just miss you.”

“Hey Ru,” Buffy placed a kiss on the top of his head to get his attention. “Why don’t we head home now? We’ll come back next week.”

He nodded his head before crawling over to the tombstone, quickly kissing it. “We gotta go now, Daddy. But we’ll come back, don’t worry!” he walked back over to Buffy, taking her hand before looking back at the grave. “Mommy made a choklit cake ‘cause she says it’s your favorite.”

The blonde laughed at the expression her son made, picking him up and kissing his cheek as he waved to the grave. After saying goodbye, Buffy began walking out of the cemetery. They made their way back to the house, Buffy setting Ru down when he began squirming in her arms.

“Can I have a big piece?” the four year old asked as he turned around to look at his mother, walking backwards. “Like this big?”

He held his hands a few good inches apart, a hopeful look on his face. Buffy laughed at the look on his face, telling him he couldn’t have a piece that big. When the boy began pouting, she sighed and opened her mouth to say something when Ru bumped into a pair of legs. She went to catch as he stumbled forward, looking up when a hand grabbed his shoulder to keep him from falling.

“Careful there, big guy.” The stranger chuckled, releasing the boy when he was certain he wasn’t going to fall.

“Sorry,” Ru said as he moved to stand by Buffy, partially hiding behind her legs.

“Thanks,” Buffy told the stranger. “Sadly, he’s about as clumsy as his father.”

“It’s fine. I’ve got a niece about his age and she’s always bumping into things. I think it’s just a kid thing,” he held out his hand and gave her a smile. “I’m James Dillinger.”

“Buffy Summers,” she shook his head and looked at her son. “And this is my son, Rupert.”

“Nice to meet both of you.”

Ru peeked from around his mother’s legs and looked at James, narrowing his eyes slightly as his mother talked to him. He continued to watch the two adults talk until his mother gently nudged him.

“Mr. Dillinger asked you a question, Ru.” She said.

“Oh,” he muttered. “Sorry.”

“I was just wondering what you were asking your mother,” James smiled.

“I wanted a big piece of my daddy’s cake. This big piece,” he held his hands slightly further apart this time, causing the adults to laugh softly. “But Mommy said no.”

“And that’s because you’ll get sick if you eat too much sugar,” Buffy giggled as she picked up the four year old. “Your daddy was like that too. His sweet tooth is another thing you got from him,”

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but where is Rupert’s father?” James timidly asked.

“Daddy’s dead,” Ru said quietly, clinging lightly to Buffy.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t…”

“It’s fine.” Buffy assured him, a small smile on her face. “He died four years ago in a car accident.”

“Ah,” the man said, looking at the ground.

Silence settled over them for a brief moment. It was the four year old who broke the silence, an idea coming to him. He looked at James and gave the man a grin.

“Wanna have some of Daddy’s cake with us?” he asked.

“Ru, I’m sure Mr. Dillinger has other things to do.” Buffy sighed, giving James a small smile. “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t be. I’d say yes, but I don’t want to impose.” James answered, giving a shrug. “Besides, you just met me. So…”

Ru looked from his mother to James, and then looked at the ground. He was just trying to be nice like everyone said he should be.

“But we could do coffee sometime,” James continued, a shy smile on his face. “Get to know each other a bit better, if you want to that is.”

The boy looked at his mother, a curious look on his face when he noticed the hesitation on her face. When Buffy looked at her son, he gave her a smile and told her she needed more friends than Aunt Willow and Uncle Xander. That got the two adults to laugh before Buffy looked back at James.

“That would be nice,” she answered. “I’ll give you my number and you can call whenever you want to get coffee.”

“Or we could get coffee now,” he suggested. “I wouldn’t mind getting to know both you and your son.”

Ru grinned when he saw the smile on his mother’s face as she accepted. He rested his head on her shoulder as they walked with James down the street, a small smile on his face as he listened to his mother laugh and talk with the man. He gave a small yawn and closed his eyes to take a nap, glad to know his mother was happy instead of being sad on his father’s birthday.


End file.
